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The world鈥檚 third largest copper deposit is set to literally light up the lives of the people living near it. The Cobre Panama mine, which represents a $10-billion investment by the Canadian firm First Quantum Minerals Ltd., is bringing electricity for the first time ever to the villagers living in the area.

鈥淭he mine had to build a 300 megawatt energy plant, and of those, they鈥檙e giving back 100 MW to the local community that never had electricity before,鈥� says Deborah Archibald, a geologist and director of the School of Public Policy鈥檚 Extractive Resource Governance program (ERGP).

Archibald led a two-day 鈥淢ining 101鈥� workshop for government officials Sept. 26 and 27 in Panama City to teach them about such things as best practices for formulating effective policy and regulatory frameworks, community consultation and environmental impact assessments. Many of the attendees were from Panama鈥檚 Ministry of Commerce and Industry.

鈥淭hey have no stand-alone mining department. The industry has been so small; they鈥檙e trying to decide if they should set up a department,鈥� Archibald says. She was pleased to see how enthusiastic the delegates were about learning everything they can around best practices, especially in community consultation.

鈥淚t was invigorating because it was a really young group of people. They were so knowledgeable and enthusiastic, so keen. They see the opportunity to improve the lives of their people; many live in poverty and are not well educated. It鈥檚 about quality of life through mineral development,鈥� she says.

Production began in July when the Cobre mine shipped its first two loads of copper concentrate. Until now, Panama鈥檚 economy has relied mainly on ships transitioning the Panama Canal. From now on, the canal will also serve the mine 鈥� located in Colon province, just 20 kilometres from the Caribbean seacoast 鈥� as it ships copper all over the world.   

鈥淧anama has not had a hardrock mining industry to speak of,鈥� Archibald says. 鈥淭heir current mining law dates back to the 1960s and they want to modernize that law.鈥�  

Electricity is not the only gift the mine has given the villagers. Unable to give jobs to everyone, the mine came up with other ingenious ways to give back to the community, such as funding the establishment of farms to raise chickens which are then killed and sold to the mine. And Archibald says that for every area the mine had to clear, it has developed an equal amount of land.

鈥淭hey鈥檝e assisted the communities in establishing agricultural land. The people in the immediate area are quite enthusiastic about the mine because of the direct benefits to them,鈥� she says. The land is being used to grow coffee, which is exported out of the country. The mine has also made donations to the local hospitals.

When the ERGP visits a country like Panama to offer its expertise in resource extraction issues, it鈥檚 the start of a longer-term relationship.

鈥淲e had discussions about facilitating a study tour for them to come to Canada,鈥� Archibald says. 鈥淭hat might be the next step.鈥� Such a study tour would involve meetings with environmental assessment agencies and possibly with Indigenous people affected by mining.

鈥淥ur workshop touched on a little bit of everything about governance. If they want a deeper dive, they could do it by webinar. They鈥檙e interested in more advanced training in community consultations,鈥� she says.

With a large financial sector in Panama City, the government is keen on developing economic opportunities in Panama鈥檚 remote regions. And when those opportunities involve resource extraction, the School of Public Policy鈥檚 Extractive Resource Governance program could well be there to lend a helping hand.